« April 2004 | Main | June 2004 »
May 31, 2004
The Day After Tomorrow
Sure the cliches run heavy and thick. Sure they put an environmental beatdown on NYC. But what the hell, it's Memorial Day, so I went to check out a matinee showing of The Day After Tomorrow. I'm sure that the science is dicey, but this film delivers as the fun summertime movie that it's supposed to be.
The Plot?
Man = Amazon deforesting, greenhouse gas emitting Dumbass
Nature = Badass Lawman come down to wreak havoc upon aforementioned Dumbass
Question: Will Dumbass survive?
You'll have to go see the movie to find your answers. Suffice it to say that there will be massive destruction to notable landmarks, a touching young lovers story, a fathers search for redemption, and of course the inevitable bald kid with cancer.
Apparently the idea for the film came in part from a book called The Coming Global Superstorm
Posted by Thomas at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2004
Pi: Faith in Chaos
After an aborted attempt at watching David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (Note to the braintrust who put out this DVD: Chapter Selection in a DVD is not optional. People are bound to want to stop the DVD in the middle and watch it later... Shit happens... power goes out...Catastrophe's abound! We don't have the patience to watch your bizarre meanderings and little people bad guys repeatedly just to get back to where we stopped watching...), I watched Pi: Faith in Chaos, written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. This was the film that put him on the map. It won the directors award at Sundance in 1998. He went on to Make Requiem for a Dream, which is also supposed to be pretty good, and is next in my Netflix cue.
Anyway, back to the movie. It's shot in extreme contrast black and white, and has a really cool visual style. As to content, I enjoyed the movie. It's about a genius mathematician who's obsessed with numbers theory and the deeper meaning behind Pi (3.145350504 etc. etc...) and it's relationship to the undepinnings of the stockmarket & meaning of life. It's also shot in NYC, with lots of footage of Chinatown, and the subways. At one point a high powered evil wall street firm get's involved, as well as a sect of Hasidic cabalistic Jews. Oi!
All in all, I'd say check out this DVD!
Posted by Thomas at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2004
The Memory Hole
The Memory Hole is a site that I recently came across. (They published the first photos of flag draped caskets arriving at Dover Air Force Base from Iraq.) Know what your government is doing to you!
Posted by Thomas at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2004
Erin & Her Cello
I made my first trip to DUMBO this evening to see a friends show. She was performing (with her cello, as the flyer above suggests) at a nice little space called One Arm Red I'd never seen Erin perform before so I had no idea what to expect. I must say that I was completely blown away! Erin took center stage, with a backup band of 3 female vocalists, a beat-boxer, and an accordion player.
She sang original songs while playing the cello (alternating between pizzicato & bowed), and the songs were hilarious. She had a great stage presence, and the crowd really responded to the show. I think it's safe to say that you're going to be hearing more from both Erin & Her Cello in the future!
Posted by Thomas at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2004
Engaged
I just saw a play called Engaged at the Lucy Lortel Theatre, in the West Village. It was put on by the Theatre for a New Audience, and written by W.S. Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan). It was a farce, and a really enjoyable one at that. One of the most impressive things for me was the actors use of language (something I'm currently working on in my Voice/Speech class with Pat Fletcher) and their physicality. It's a limited run, and will be long gone by the time I actually get this Blog out of the Beta stage, but it does give me something to practicing my posting with!
Posted by Thomas at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2004
Kill Bill vol.2
I just saw Kill Bill vol.2 this afternoon. To me Quentin Tarrantino has really hit it out of the park with both Vol. 1 and especially Vol. 2. Each movie has it's own unique style, (which is interesting considering they were originally shot as one film) and both are satisfying to watch. The cinematography in Vol. 2 is great, as are the story and characters. They feel like old Sergio Leone westerns. I'd definitely recommend this film.
Posted by Thomas at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
Dark Days
As I write this I'm completely aware that I'm probably way behind the times with my knowledge of this film, but hey... I just got Netflix so I'm trying to catch up. The DVD I'm talking about is Dark Days, and if you haven't seen it you should. It's a documentary about street people in NYC who lived in the abandoned Amtrak tunnels that run from 72nd street to 123rd street on the west side. The "filmmaker" basically lived with these people for 2 years underground. It's shot on 16mm black and white. I put "filmmaker" in quotes because this was the creator Marc Singer's first film. The idea to make a documentary about these people only came about after he'd already been living in the tunnels for about 3 months, and one of the residents said "you know, someone should make a movie about all this." Check out the link above for a more complete description.
It's also pretty interesting that these tunnels are only about 5 blocks from my apartment.
Posted by Thomas at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2004
Caroline, or Change
I'm not sure exactly what to make of the most recent musical that I've seen, Caroline, or Change. Officially it's in it's last night of previews and opens tomorrow at the Eugene O'neill Theatre. I'd heard really good things about the show from classmates, and apparently the lead actor Tonya Pinkins is a former student at the same acting school that I attend, The William Esper Studio. Vocally the performances were stunning. (Ms. Pinkins feature in the second act is a real treat, and the child lead Harrison Chad is amazing). I'm not sure why I didn't leave the theatre with the same impression that everyone else seemed to. During the first act I felt really disconnected from what was going on onstage. It may have had something to do with my seats. TKTS is a beautiful thing, and I wouldn't be able to meet my goal of seeing at least 2-3 shows a month without them, but my 54.00 seats were bascially in the nosebleed right rear mezzanine. Though I did have a full view of the stage, there were times when I really had to stuggle to understand what the singers were saying. At intermission I moved to an obstructed view seat in the front right orchestra, and though there were times that I couldn't see people that were singing due to where they were on the stage, I enjoyed the second act much more than the first.
To me the book seemed abit all over the place, without a real clear and tight storyline, but as I say it may have been that my seats for the first act really never let me get in tune with the show. From the buzz of the crowd and the general buzz that I've heard about this show I think it's probably on it's way to some type of Tony, especially with a book by Tony Kuschner (Angels in America) and music by Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie). The acting was good, especially when I was able to be closer to the stage. Overall I enjoyed the show, and especially liked Tonya Pinkins. Both her vocal performance and acting were wonderful.
As a side note I made one of those wonderful NYC discoveries while kiling time before the show. I found what may be one of the last independently owned cool little used book/clothing stores near the theatre, where I picked up a hard copy of "The Magic Lantern", an autobiography of Ingmar Bergman for 5.00. I've never seen any of Bergman's films, but have heard about him (especially the Sevent Seal). It will be a good excuse to check out his work.
Posted by Thomas at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)